Ludo – Youâ€™re Awful, I Love You

Drawing influences from the likes of Weezer and Muse, Ludo mixes emo rock with lighthearted innuendo for a style they’ve coined “extremo”. In spite of the current bloated state of the emo genre, Ludo manages to conjure up something refreshing. The St. Louis based quintet comes with clever lyrics amid their wall-to-wall catchy hooks and some genuine guitar solos.

There’s a lot of energy and enthusiasm to be had on this album and almost none of the stereotypical emo moody, broody whining. Vocalist Andrew Volpe turns out lyrics that parody the more gothy emo themes, such as on “Love Me Dead” where he sings “and when her edges soften, her body is my coffin”, and phrases like “finger-banging my heart”. But their wittiness isn’t contained solely in such coarseness, as on “Topeka” when Volpe sings “every saint has her past, every sinner has her future”.

At their best, the songs are melded with upbeat ska-like rhythms and minor-keyed chord progressions. There’s even occasional keyboard melodies that evoke The Cars and The Rentals. There are a few bland toss-out tracks, but not enough to dismiss the album or overshadow the majority of parts that work well.